Speaking of television and movies, I recently upgraded my Netflix subscription to the 2-disc buffet variety. I caught some of the shows highly recommended by friends:
 
Dexter – I found myself quickly drawn into it and finished the first season before realizing. The main character, a serial killer bound by an honor code, surprisingly connects with the audience with his inability to feel any emotion.
 
Californication – the first two episodes have been brilliant, not to mention apropos; The protagonist, a slumping writer, moves from NYC to LA and starts blogging about his hatred for the city while womanizing and trying to win back his family. Hey, I can compare notes, without the womanizing part. And yeah, that makes my blog a lot less entertaining.
 
Burn Notice – discovered by accident this sleeper show about a spy in Miami. There’s spy stuff, fashion, girls in Miami, and mojitos. Did I mention girls in Miami?
 
I suspect this recent surge of interest in entertainment is partially spurred by a couple good flicks I caught. Doubt was a tour de force in acting and story telling. Pixar’s Up would’ve moved even Dexter. And the Hangover got me itching for a boys trip to Vegas. Anybody wanna volunteer to get married?

 
Even though describing those plans makes me feel like a hermit, I do entertain people frequently enough, so I’m not at a loss for social activity. That’s before accounting for further exploration of the city of Angels. While all of this isn’t nearly as exciting as traveling, it’s also a lot less disruptive, allowing for settling into a more local routine and spending more time with friends in the same area code.
 
And if I get really bored, all those miles banked up can still make for a short trip in August.
 

Our laundry list of merry eating and drinking:
LA-y places: Brunch at Farmers Market (meet me at 3rd and Fairfax), 3 am vegan meals at Swingers, self ordered grub from terminals at uWink in Hollywood, the obligatory pit stop at In-n-Out Burgers (where I unfortunately had a small bite after years of successfully avoiding);
Downtown: Shojin (my adopted family in downtown), Nickel Diner, drinks at the Association;
San Gabriel Valley Taiwanese Food Tour: Din Tai Fung, Tea Station, yam porridge at Lu’s Garden;
and a long haul down to the OC for raw Vietnamese food at Au Lac.

 
When I review that list I realize that we crammed too much into too short of a time period. Next time I would tune things down a notch and include a real beach trip for lounging around. Sand under the toes has to be a crowd-pleaser. As for consecutive nights of clubbing, hindsight says they’re excessive. Although it did make for two separate instances of negotiation training. On the first night out, the parking attendant tried to rip us off by charging us another $10 for picking up the car after 2am. He threatened to make us wait until the parking office opened in the morning. I made him unlock the doors so the girls can rest in the car while I talked his ear off for 10 minutes. I’d like to believe it was my fast talking instead of his fatigue that led to him “doing me a favor” and handing off my keys. And on the second night, four members of the crew managed to wrangle themselves into the club for free after missing the time limit on guest list access. The money saved was eventually spent on Tequila, which may not have been such a great deal after all. Nonetheless, I can’t help thinking that our over-partying resulted in missing our planned visit to the Getty Center, one of my favorite places. But hey, no regrets, c’est la vie.
 
All in all, the timing was perfect. After freezing in NY, our guests enjoyed perfect weather here, with most days nary a cloud and temperatures friendly to t-shirt and shorts. On they day of their departure, we bore witness to the Inauguration at home while watching the crowd congregate 2 blocks down at LA Live. An inspiring and memorable send-off to a great visit, undoubtedly with more to come.
 

Our official reunion took place on New Year’s Eve, where Gino’s college buddy Marcela graciously hosted everyone at her house. Guests came from everywhere, her friends and family, both sides of the wedding couple, random friends from all around the world. I’ll admit that at first the eclectic group from different backgrounds and various ages didn’t click. We battled over the music, we formed our little cliques, we were being uncomfortable norte americanos (euphemism for gringo). Maybe it was jet-lag and travel fatigue that caused the lull in energy and outgoingness. Still a fun night was inevitable. We loosened up and time flew by. The countdown crept up so quickly and caught me by complete surprise. The pleasant part of the surprise was when the older aunties passed out all sorts of merry-making props, like funky 2009 plastic glasses. They grabbed each of us for warm hugs and kisses. If only my family could learn from them and lose some of their uptightness, but that’s a battle for another day. The summer weather allowed us to salsa away on the backyard dance floor while free flowing food and drinks kept us going the whole night. It couldn’t have been a better pre-wedding party.

After a day of recovery, we attended the grand event – holy matrimony for Gino y Laura. The Catholic wedding was a little more special than usual because of Gino’s brother Antonio, whom I met almost 3 years ago at our graduation. Still his charming, humorous self, the man of the cloth led the way in Spanish and English. I still remember the first time Gino and Laura met in Paris. It was the French Week party. There were three of us from our house; Gino and Juan encountered two very lovely ladies (one of them was Laura) while I was introduced to a somewhat aggressive woman that I felt no attraction towards. At the end of that night, I left Gino and Laura on their own while I took the shuttle bus back to Fontainbleau, feeling a bit miffed about getting ditched, muttering to myself a popular Chinese saying about seeing the beauties and forgetting one’s friends. Little did I know from that fateful night, that we would eventually have this beautiful couple, so happy to have each other, and with our full blessings. Douglas calls them the tallest couple in Peru; they certainly are at the top of the world.

Newly Weds Surrounded by Monty Gang

One final thought on Lima – mind blowing food. From all the options available, and there were many, my favorite was the ceviche, fish and seafood appetizer marinated with lime and onions. On first taste, it short circuited my taste buds and went straight to the bliss neurons in my brain. I’ve had ceviche elsewhere before, but it doesn’t compare to what’s offered in Lima; fresh from the ocean (Lima is right on the coast) and marinated with refreshing ingredients. It has to be the freshness coupled with the succulent lime. Back in France, Gino always told us about how great the lime was back home. Then we could only imagine and mouth water over the citrus delight that we eventually consummated in reality years later. But it’s not just me, even the hard-to-please, the world’s least-adventurous self-proclaimed foodie, Peter Guy gives his props to Peruvian food.

Heavenly, Breath-taking, Out of this World

Peru is certainly a gem, and relatively undiscovered one that’s not on everyone’s shortlist of places to visit. It should be on yours.

Stoopid drunk on food

Blessed with brilliant weather, the Lantau day trip thoroughly impressed me. The long cable car ride up to the buddha provided generous views of the scenery and surrounding water. And our reward for the brief trek up the stairs were delicious desserts at the monastery. They made a killer smooth version of my favorite hot tofu dessert that dissolved in my mouth, just heavenly. Who knew monks ate so well?

Calm before the food storm

While Macau’s claim to fame may be gambling – I even played craps in Cantonese at the Wynn, albeit to a losing cause – what stood out was the eating, again. After the hour-long ferry ride to Asia’s gaming capital, we took a cab to the town square and promptly began our eating ordeal in a crowded milkery (I struggle with the translation) that served milk-pudding (more like jello’d) and piping hot pork sandwiches. Our party of 7 was split up and 3 of us shared a table with two other people, who decided to gain back some of their casino losses by sneaking off without paying. The restaurant tried to stick us with the bill and in typical Cantonese style we politely declined in yelling fashion. And that was just the start. We left the joint and hiked up the street for the main tourist attraction, some unremarkable landmark consisting of the front wall of a church after the rest of it was bombed. In the short length of this half-mile walk, we ate pork jerky, cookies, peppery pork buns from Taiwan, Portuguese style egg custard pastry, and countless other samples heaped upon us by the locals. The pork jerky woman literally dragged my arm into the store and forced me to try more flavors.

Macau, where you’re always full

Season pork strips freshly roasted and served

The one sobering aspect of the trip was the economy and its affect on our friends in the financial industry. Like NYC, HK’s large financial industry makes it a hub for many of our MBA classmates from INSEAD and Haas. We partook in a few bankers’ luncheons in the famous IFC (also the Asian locale for Dark Knight) and listened to the worries of our friends. The level of uncertainty and lack of daily work shocked me. Some people literally go into the office for 8 hours to browse the web and wait for management to announce layoffs. As bad as things were, all of them have kept their chins up. I suppose they’ve all gotten pass the shellshock stage. I was relieved to see them not in panic or depression. I can only hope that the global economy recovers quickly, for all of us, and also to restore the city’s vibrancy.

View from Victoria Peak

The other similarity HK shares with NYC is its metropolitan nature – big city, big crowds – which I really love about cities. Hong Kong’s unique aspects are numerous: a modern, model transit system, the geography of islands, a much appreciated cleanliness especially compared to NYC and most Chinese cities, and a true nightlife culture. Despite my personal biases for big cities, I can’t help but rank HK highly on the list of desirable places to reside in.

(Photo credits to Dave and Euge)

That’s all I have to complain about my 2-day sojourn in amazing California wine country. After a rather productive week in the Bay Area, the brief time off relaxing in Napa was the perfect conclusion to my trip. Sure there was a lot of wine to taste and food to eat, but the theme of relaxing was well maintained. Think leisurely walks, naps, and massages.

I didn’t bother too much to visit many wineries. We took some suggestions from the inn-keeper and trekked between highway 29 and Silverado Trail for a bit of tasting and sight seeing. Clos Pegase stood out for its eccentric art-loving owner, who graciously outfitted the winery with his vast art collection. While I didn’t get much into the paintings hung on the office walls, I fully appreciated the statues scattered throughout the grounds and the caves. We picnic’ed on the patio, enjoying the breeze and surroundings. While generous with art, they were somewhat stingy with their wines for the tasting, proffering less spectacular samples while hoarding the good stuff.

The name-brand slut in me couldn’t resist stopping at Opus One, the Louis Vuitton of wines. For once I could relate to the hoards of women who dig LVMH. I even paid the premium price of $30 for the tasting – a single glass of the 2004 blend. Served in a Riedel glass by a French hostess, of course. I knew I was probably out of place the moment I walked in; some Japanese tourist had laid out several thousands of dollars worth of travelers cheques on the counter. He must have a lot of friends back home that need souvenirs. Quality wine, premium price.

Having my fill of nature and architecture, I wanted a good swig of grape. The final stop did just that. Jessup Cellers put up a tasting room in one of the Napa towns for the sheer joy of tasting, cutting out all the winery related sideshows. No tours, no vines. Simply a store front with bottles of oenoholic goodness. The host poured me at least 6 delicious reds, and offered to open up anything more I wanted to try, all complementary. I enjoyed their wine the most, preferring their flagship brand over Opus One.

Ending on a string of high notes, we stopped for a late lunch at a classy Vietnamese-fusion restaurant on Main St. The chef, Anna Lien, played host while we gobbled down the yummy food. Not taking away anything from Ubuntu‘s unique and delicious veggie fare, Anna’s presence makes her cozy place stand out in the superb dining environment of Napa.

French Laundry will have to wait until next time.